Andromeda
by mfinga19
Summary: Two friends discuss the inevitable, what distance means now, and what it will mean in the future.


"Did you know that the Milky Way is going to be swallowed sometime soon?"

"…Sorry?" Steve asked, keeping his hand on the chipped screen door to keep it from slamming shut behind him, slowing it's return to the doorframe. The night was cool enough that the air conditioning was off in the house, the windows open to let the gentle summer breeze flow through the rooms, rustling sheet music on the piano and making the wind chimes murmur. Bucky was loosely curled on the patio couch, looking directly up, staring at the vast expanse of stars overhead. Steve went to take a seat by him, feeling a warm curl in his gut when he saw the sweatshirt Bucky was wearing: Columbia. Steve's MIT sweatpants suddenly felt extra cozy.

"Our galaxy. It's going to be swallowed," Bucky repeated, his eyes never leaving the Nebraska night sky, but scooting over slightly to let Steve under the light tartan blanket. Bucky had left it at Steve's house when they were seven, used as a cape or a tent or an invisibility cloak, but he'd never brought it back home. There'd never been a reason to. Bucky had always come back. A dark thought began to gnaw at the back of Steve's mind. Maybe Bucky would finally be taking the blanket back.

"By what?"

"Another galaxy. The Andromeda galaxy." \

"Hm. Interesting. How soon is 'soon'?" Steve asked, taking up his spot at the opposite end of the couch as Bucky. Their feet met in the middle, Bucky shoving his bare toes under Steve's socked feet to warm them. Steve's eyes followed his gaze up to the constellations above the pair.

"Four million years," Bucky replied, huddling deeper into his sweatshirt.

Steve snorted. "Four million years? Don't you think that's a little far in advance to be worried about the collisions of two galaxies millions of years from now?" He looked away from the stars for a moment to catch his best friend's gaze, but Bucky remained fixated on the light overhead.

"I think it's terrifying. Knowing that something so life altering is coming and not being able to do anything to stop it."

"Buck, that's not something we have to concern ourselves with," Steve chuckled, nudging his friend.

"But we can see it coming. See that light right there?" Bucky pointed, leaning closer to Steve to indicate a spot of light further on the horizon. "That's Andromeda. We can see her coming. And there's nothing we can do about it." Bucky dropped his hand, but remained close, leaning on his friend's shoulder.

Steve laughed softly. "That's not something we'll even be alive to see, let alone think about. Plus, I find it kind of comforting."

"Comforting?"

"Yeah. There's something… calming about it. I know something's coming, there's nothing I can do about it, _se la vie_. It's inevitable, and there's comfort in the inevitable." Steve returned his gaze to the stars. "I'm not calling it fate or destiny…but the inevitable is already written. It's not something I have to worry about. Or you, for that matter."

Silence hung for a few minutes as the two boys stared up at the stars some more.

"Do you think we were inevitable, Steve?"

"You mean us being friends?" Steve looked to Bucky, startled by the odd question.

"Sure," Bucky shrugged, steadfastly ignoring Steve's gaze.

Steve thought for a moment. "Yes. I think we were inevitable. Bucky," Steve moved his head to try to meet his friend's eyes. After a struggle, Bucky kept eye contact with him. "Bucky, I think we _were_ inevitable. I think you pushing Brock in preschool was supposed to happen, and I think we were supposed to be together every day after. Bucky, you're my best friend. No one has ever known me like you do, and I don't think I'll ever want anyone to. Not when I have you."

The two boys held each other's gaze for a few moments, then broke off simultaneously, both turning to look at the bright spot that was Andromeda. The silence went on, comfortable and secure, and Steve was beginning to doze off when he heard Bucky clear his throat slightly.

"Steve?"

"Myeah?" Steve wearily blinked his eyes open to meet Bucky's eyes again. The boy was staring resolutely at him.

"Steve, do you think we are inevitable?" There was a hard look in Bucky's eye, a flint that wasn't normally there and it caught Steve's attention, making him wake up a bit.

"You just asked me that."

"No, I didn't."

The tone of Bucky's voice fully roused him, making him sit up.

"Bucky-"

"No, Steve, you know what I'm asking." Bucky gently picked up one of Steve's hands, nervously toying with his fingers, the way he used to before a big recital in middle school. "Steve, tomorrow I go off to Boston, you're leaving for New York on Wednesday, we're out of time."

Steve stayed silent, staring at his friend, unable to say a word. Bucky maintained eye contact, ignoring the stars above them and Andromeda beyond them, his clear blue eyes piercing through Steve like a single silver dart.

"It's only a four hour drive, we'll still see each other all the time." Bucky squeezed his hand softly, his voice taking on a slight pleading tone.

"Steve, you have to understand, this will change nothing, we'll still be the same, we'll still be friends, you'll still know everything about me, I'll still know everything about you." Bucky shifted even closer, until there were only a few inches between the two boy's faces. "I just need an answer from you: Are we inevitable?"

Steve couldn't look away from Bucky, from his eyes to his pinched brow, to the short distance between their lips. From this angle, it look a lot like four million years.

Steve barely breathed out a 'yes' before he covered the distance himself in an instant.


End file.
